HILDEGARDE (LORETTA SELL) PAPERS

SCOPE AND CONTENT

Papers of The Incomparable HILDEGARDE! (Loretta Sell), a singer, pianist, entertainer,
and comedienne, known to the public as "The Incomparable HILDEGARDE!" The collections
includes diaries, correspondence, photographs, recordings, memorabilia, an autograph
book, and 49 scrapbooks.

Presented by Hildegarde Loretta Sell in 1979, 1981-1982. Additional materials donated
by Don Dellair (Hildegarde's former agent and executor) in 2008. Processed by Charles
B. Elston after 1982, and Matt Blessing in 2008-2009. Series 2 microfilmed in 2008.

Biographical Note

HILDEGARDE Loretta Sell (1906-2005) was an internationally renowned singer, pianist,
night club entertainer, and comedienne, known to the public as "The Incomparable
HILDEGARDE!" She was born on February 1, 1906 in Adell, Wisconsin, the daughter of
Charles and Ida Jermain Sell. Her father, a merchant, played the drums and violin and
her mother was an organist who directed the church choir. The family lived in New
Holstein until Hildegarde reached the age of 12, then moved to Milwaukee. Hildegarde
and her two sisters (Germaine Harting and Beatrice Zummach) sang in their school choir
and played in the school orchestra. In 1924-1925 Hildegarde studied the piano at the
School of Music at Marquette University, hoping to become a concert pianist.

Hildegarde joined a twelve-piece all-male orchestra that played for silent movies at
the Merrill Theater in downtown Milwaukee. Later she toured for two seasons with a
piano act called "Jerry and her Baby Grands.” For several years Hildegarde
accompanied vaudeville performers, touring for a year as a featured act in the Gus
Edwards Stars on Parade. In 1933 she successfully auditioned for London's Café de
Paris, where she sang for one month. She appeared again in London in a 1934 hit show
called "Seeing Stars," which co-starred Britain's foremost comedian, Leslie Hensen. She
and her manager, Anna Sosenko, moved to Paris, where Hildegarde sang for three years
and developed her distinctive cabaret technique. Guided by Soskenko, Hildegarde
refined both her act and her persona, acquiring a continental flavor by learning to
sing in French, Russian, Italian, Swedish, and German. Her first command performance
was in the Casanova, a Parisian boite, where she sang "Did You Ever See A Dream
Walking" for King Gustav of Sweden. When King Gustav returned several months later and
inquired about Hildegarde, the venue's owner, who had discharged her, agreed to hire
her back at many times her former salary to appease the monarch.

Hildegarde went on to major engagements in London, including King George V's Jubilee,
and the coronation of King George VI. Anna Sosenko negotiated a long term contract for
Hildegarde with the BBC, the first American singer to earn such an arrangement. The
1930s she performed in many famous clubs and hotels, including the Ritz, Berkeley, and
Carlton in London; the Dolphin in Cannes; the Boeuf sur le Toit, Scheherazade, and the
Casanova in Paris.

Hildegard'es first major club success in New York was at the Versailles. This was
followed by an engagement at the Savoy-Plaza, which was repeated twice yearly for five
years. She then began a six-year engagement at the Persian Room at the Plaza.
Hildegarde was familiar to club patrons outside New York, routinely playing at the
Blackstone, Drake, and Palmer House in Chicago; the Mark Hopkins in San Francisco;
and the Copley Plaza in Boston. In the early 1940s she starred as a radio singer and
pianist on "99 Men and a Girl," "Beat the Band," "Supper Club of the Air: The Raleigh
Room." In 1948 Hildegarde returned to Milwaukee following an extensive European tour,
which included a private audience with Pope Pius XII at his summer home, Castel
Gandolfo. She played the starring role in Cole Porter's "Can-Can" in both Dallas and
Kansas City in 1956 and 1957.

Hildegarde's portrait appeared on the cover of Life magazine in 1939,
presenting the singer to 15 million American readers. She was also one of the first
entertainers to appear on television, prior to the Second World War. Over her long
career she made. numerous television appearances, on programs hosted by Edward R.
Murrow, Jack Paar, Steve Allen, Dinah Shore, Merv Griffin, Dick Cavett, and Tom Snyder.
She also performed at the White House during the Truman and Eisenhower administrations.
Her autobiography, Over 50...So What!, was published by Doubleday in 1961. She
performed regularly until the mid-1980s. In her mid 70s, Hildegarde sang with the
Harry James Orchestra and an all-star cast in a production called "The Big Broadcast
of 1944." In 1997 she was photographed by Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair
magazine.

From a devout German Catholic family, Hildegarde was an active member of the Roman
Catholic Church. She regularly performed for charitable events for hospitals, schools
and churches. She died in 2005 at the age of 99 in a hospital in New York of natural
causes.

Scope and Content

Series 1, Diaries,
Correspondence, and Ephemera (Letter-Size): Correspondence consists largely of
incoming letters, arranged chronologically, from the directors of charitable
organizations thanking Hildegarde for her performances on behalf of churches,
hospitals, schools, relief agencies, medical organizations, and the like. Also
included are tributes from hotel managers, friends, and other admirers on the quality
of her public performances and an autograph book of notes and poems by classmates at
St. John's Cathedral High School, Milwaukee (1922-1924). A collection of more
substantive letters were extracted from Hildegarde's diaries, acquired in 2008. The
ephemera is divided into letter-size and oversize (Series 3) items with the former
including programs, handbills, and brochures concerning performances and publicity
activities; awards; and color sketches of Hildegarde (1928, 1938). Hildegarde's
diaries span 1922-1991, with a several gaps, and form the largest part of series 1.

Series 2, Scrapbooks
(Originals) and Scrapbooks
(Microfilm): The scrapbooks contain newspaper and magazine articles, reviews,
and photographs concerning Hildegarde's vaudeville, theatre, supper club, and benefit
performances; radio and television shows; personal appearances at social events,
political gatherings, and retail stores throughout the United States and western
Europe; charitable activities and memberships; wardrobe and apparel; and fashion,
health, and beauty recommendations. Also included are newspaper and handbill
advertisements for upcoming performances, commercial engagements, and phonograph
records; supper club and café menus, table decorations, advertisements, and brochures
involving night club appearances in major U.S. hotels; publicity photographs
appearing on magazine covers, as well as snapshots taken by Hildegarde and friends \
(1922-1929); "gossip" columns in major U.S. daily newspapers containing references to
Hildegarde; sheet music; feature articles on her career in general and show business
magazines; and copies of commercial endorsements by Hildegarde appearing in magazines
and newspapers for products such as Mack Trucks, General Electric appliances, Revlon
cosmetics, Nucoa margarine, bagels, champagne, and ocean cruises. Early scrapbooks
relate to student life and musical and theatrical performances at St. John's Cathedral
High School (1924-1925), and other Milwaukee schools and theatres (1922-1927). The
scrapbooks are arranged chronologically.

Series 3, Memorabilia
and Ephemera (Oversize): The memorabilia includes a box lace handkerchief. The
ephemera is divided into letter-size (Series 1) and oversize items with the latter
including a Life Magazine cover (1939); an award and program; and a color
sketch of Hildegarde (1963).

Series 4, Recordings:
Consists of video and audio recordings of live performances, interviews,
professionally recorded albums, and a variety of radio appearances made throughout
her career. Includes audio recordings of Hildegarde's 80th birthday concert at
Carnegie Hall, and several performances that were part of her "Hildegarde . . . Live
at 85!" concert tour. The series also contains recordings of her radio show, "The
Raleigh Room," which aired on NBC Radio during the mid-1940s. The series is arranged
according to format, thereunder chronologically.

Series 5, Photographs:
Consists of studio and publicity prints of Hildegarde, as well as images of
Hildegarde with a variety of celebrities, including Milton Berle, Tommy Dorsey, Frank
Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, and Harry S Truman. Also included are candid personal
images of Hildegarde with family and friends. The series includes several albums and
portfolios, including an album documenting performances in Milwaukee and Marquette
University (1953-1954). The photographs span circa 1910-1997. The images are arranged
topically, thereunder chronologically.